IM-125 July 28, 2020; IM-100 August 4, 2017
RSMo 208.151.1 was updated August 28, 2019, to allow certain individuals under the age of 26 who were in foster care to be eligible for healthcare coverage through the Children’s Division (CD).
To qualify, a person must:
- have been in Foster Care and receiving coverage through the Missouri Children’s Division on, or within 30 days prior to, their 18th birthday; or
- have been in Foster Care and receiving Medicaid coverage in another state for at least six (6) months prior to their 18th birthday; and
- apply for and be determined ineligible for MO HealthNet through the Family Support Division (FSD)
If the applicant is eligible for coverage through FSD and they are currently receiving former foster care youth coverage (ME 38) through the Children’s Division, do not reject the application. Send an email, with a subject line of AC ME 38 – NEEDS TO BE CLOSED
to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov. Include:
- the applicant’s name
- DCN; and
- current address
FSD staff must approve MO HealthNet coverage the day that the former foster care coverage shows as closed in MXIX. Due to the overnight batch process and to prevent gaps in coverage, CD will NOT close ME 38 coverage before a weekend or holiday. Requests received on these days will be processed on the following business day.
To allow for continuity of coverage for former foster care individuals, CD currently auto-enrolls participants in Missouri Former Foster Care Youth coverage at the time of age-out.
If a former Missouri foster care individual has been determined ineligible for a full coverage Family MO HealthNet or MO HealthNet for the Aged, Blind or Disabled program through FSD, the participant will automatically be evaluated for Former Foster Care Youth coverage by CD.
Individuals who received foster care from another state for at least six months must provide documentation from the state they exited care verifying they were in foster care and receiving Medicaid coverage at the age of 18. These individuals will be designated to an Older Youth Transition Specialist (OYTS) from CD who will coordinate the application process with FSD.
Failure of the participant to report an address change to CD may result in a gap in coverage.
EXAMPLE: Mr. Carson was given Former Foster Care Youth coverage when he turned 18. At age 20, he moved out of Missouri to attend college in Iowa and his coverage was closed. When he graduated at age 22, Mr. Carson moved back to Missouri, but did not notify CD to have his former foster care youth coverage reopened. He applied for MO HealthNet for Families coverage, but he had too much income to qualify. FSD staff referred his case to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov to have his former foster care youth coverage reopened.
Uninsured Women’s Health Services (UWHS) or Extended Women’s Health Services (EWHS) do not provide full MO HealthNet benefits. When a participant is eligible for either of these programs, additional steps are required to ensure full healthcare coverage through the Former Foster Care Youth program.
Current system functionality provides qualifying participants with Former Foster Care Youth coverage whenever other FSD coverage is ended without further action by FSD staff.
EXAMPLE: Ms. O’Brien has active Former Foster Care Youth coverage when she applies for MO HealthNet for Pregnant Women (MPW) and is found eligible. Since the participant must be given full coverage through FSD if eligible, FSD staff sends an email to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov to have the AC ME 38 closed. Once the Former Foster Care Youth coverage is closed, FSD staff approves the MPW coverage.
An ex parte is conducted before the post-partum period ends to determine whether or not she meets the eligibility criteria for a full coverage FSD MO HealthNet program. Ms. O’Brien is eligible for EWHS, which is not a full coverage program. FSD staff takes action to prevent the EWHS coverage from beginning and when the MPW post-partum coverage ends in MEDES, the Former Foster Care Youth coverage will begin automatically preventing a gap in full medical coverage.
If it is unclear if a participant should be screened for Former Foster Care Youth, send an email to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov to request a determination.
Individuals who qualify for former foster care youth coverage may also contact the MO HealthNet open enrollment broker by telephone to 800-348-6627, or Children’s Division at http://dss.mo.gov/cd/ or by telephone to 573-522-8024.